When Tom and Rebecca Birdsall, owners of Black Kite Cellars, set out to create their new tasting room, they wanted a space that felt like a welcoming home rather than a commercial establishment. The couple tapped Hawkins Interiors to design Black Kite’s tasting room and give it a lived-in, residential feeling.
This week on Disruptive Design, I sit down with interior designer Julie Hawkins and her client Tom Birdsall to discuss building their successful designer-client relationship and designing the Jasper House tasting room at Black Kite Cellars with a mixture of retail, custom, and collectible pieces to reflect the owners’ inviting and well-traveled aesthetic. Click play on the video below to watch our discussion or read on for the highlights:
Where Hawkins Interior sources furnishings for wineries
Hawkins is a pro when it comes to designing a winery and knows the importance of flexibility in these spaces. This includes incorporating multiple seating options, from a pair of sink-right-in sofas to the formal long dining table, allowing the space to adapt to different group sizes and types of events.

But flexibility must be balanced with functionality, after all. In a winery tasting room, this means considering practical elements like large occasional tables suitable for all the wine glasses used in a 90 minute tasting, adequate sound insulation and the build-out of a service corridor to make the space work efficiently.

To meet these flexible demands, her approach to Jasper House involved mixing collectible and custom pieces with more affordable retail options. “You’re really meeting high with medium and low,” she says. For example, at Black Kite, a custom-made dining table is paired with chairs from Crate and Barrel, while a sculptural lighting fixture from Apparatus elevates the space.

This strategic mixing not only helps manage the budget but also creates a more layered, interesting design that feels collected over time – much like a home.
Building the designer-client relationship
The success of the Black Kite tasting room project hinged on the strong collaboration between the clients, the designer, and the architect. Birdsall praises Hawkins’ ability to listen and translate their vision: “We were struck by the first time we met Julie, the way she was…absorbing, just sort of looking, listening to the space and the environment and what we were saying.”


The journey from initial concept to finished space included multiple site visits and tours of other vineyards Hawkins Interiors has designed. Birdsall found these tours particularly helpful: “To see the diversity… you can get a sense of flexibility and, you know, the range.” This process allowed the clients to refine their vision and gave Julie valuable insights into their preferences.

This level of trust and understanding allowed Hawkins to push the design in exciting directions while still honoring the clients’ vision. As Birdsall puts it, “The combination of a great deal of talent without ego is a very attractive combination.”
Inspired by environment
One of the elements that makes the Black Kite tasting room feel so harmonious is its connection to the surrounding environment. “We looked at their [wine bottle] label and their packaging to kind of nod to the design of the interiors as well,” Hawkins says. “Which is a little bit more soft and moody…with some of the black and the warmer wall color.”

This extends to material choices as well. They stripped the ceiling beams to expose the wood and to give it more of a natural feel, creating a seamless transition between the interior space and the beautiful Sonoma County landscape outside.

The Birdsalls are already planning to use the space for events beyond wine tasting, including a salon series featuring talks on conservation and local culture. Their forward-thinking approach ensures that the space will continue to serve the winery’s needs for years to come.

For more information on Black Kite Cellars, to book a tasting at Jasper House and see their upcoming events, visit them online. See more of Hawkins Interiors’ work at vineyards and beyond here.